Oil and gas press monitor | 22/03, WTI Crude(April Contract) $69.43/bl
London, 22 March, 2023, (Oilandgaspress): Markets expect the Fed to announce a rate hike of 25 basis points, but will also want reassurances regarding the banking crisis.
United Oil & Gas has announced an update on the ASH-8 development well in the Abu Sennan licence, onshore Egypt. United holds a 22% working interest in the licence, which is operated by Kuwait Energy Egypt.
Summary
ASH-8 well commenced production on 16 March at an initial stabilised rate of c. 2,980 bopd and 2.64 mmscf/d gross (c. 656 bopd and 0.58 mmscf/d net)
Production has come onstream six weeks ahead of the anticipated schedule, at a higher rate than originally forecast resulting in group H1 production now expected to be at the upper end of the guided range of 700 – 900 bopd net
ASH-8
As previously announced, the ASH-8 development well was interpreted to have encountered 22 metres of net oil pay in the primary Alam El Bueib (‘AEB’) reservoir target, in line with pre-drill expectations. After reaching TD on the 21 February, the well was completed and tested on a number of different choke sizes, Read More
Dolphin Drilling AS (Dolphin Drilling, OSE: DDRIL) announces that the Blackford Dolphin has commenced its 12-month drilling contract with General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL) in Nigeria. After the completion of its recertification for a new five-year period in Las Palmas, Spain, the Blackford Dolphin was towed to Port Harcourt in Nigeria in February 2023. The rig has now commenced its 12-month drilling contract with GHL in Nigeria, in line with previously stated expectations. Read More
Lhyfe and Centrica have agreed to jointly develop offshore renewable green hydrogen in the UK in a first for the country. The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could accelerate green hydrogen as part of the energy transition in the UK.
Under the agreement, Lhyfe and Centrica will explore combining their expertise to collaborate on a pilot green hydrogen production site in the Southern North Sea.
The pilot will aim to combine Lhyfe’s expertise on green hydrogen production and Centrica’s experience of gas storage and infrastructure to ensure that the hydrogen produced can be safely stored and utilised in the UK. The end result would be proof that an end-to-end hydrogen production, storage, and distribution system is possible in the country. The energy firms will also examine an additional partnership to deploy the technology at commercial scale alongside offshore wind electricity production.
Renewable green hydrogen coupled with offshore wind power is expected to play an increasingly important role in the UK’s energy mix, particularly with rapid expansion expected in both of these areas over the next 5-10 years. Read More
Astra Energy Inc. announces that it has received a commitment letter from the revolutionary government of Zanzibar to supply approximately 200 acres of land by way of a 33-year renewable lease, for Astra’s proposed Zanzibar Clean and Renewable Energy Park Project (“Project”). The Project will generate 50MW of clean and renewable energy on Unguja Island, the largest island in the Zanzibar Archipelago and the seat of Zanzibar’s semi-autonomous government. It will be comprised of 42.5 megawatts of solar generation, coupled with Astra’s proprietary Regreen waste-to-energy technology, which will generate the remaining 7.5 megawatts while consuming and eliminating approximately 300 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) daily. The Project will also include a battery energy storage system (BESS), a much-needed source of grid stability and a peak power source for the island. Astra intends to own and operate the Project as an independent power producer (IPP), selling the power to Zanzibar Electricity Corporation (ZECO), Zanzibar’s state-owned utility, via a long-term power purchase agreement. The Project will complement the Zanzibar Energy Sector Transformation Project (ZESTA), a $142M World Bank and Clean Technology Fund initiative whose objective is to “expand access to electricity service and to create an enabling environment for private-sector participation in the Zanzibar electricity sector.”
“Astra conceived this unique Project to address two of Zanzibar’s most pressing issues: access to clean, reliable power and the growing problem of municipal solid waste disposal,” says Astra’s Vice President of Electrical Power Generation Tony Thompson. “The 50 megawatts of generation on Unguja, coupled with the BESS component, will drastically reduce the island’s reliance on a single 100-MW submarine cable from mainland Tanzania, which is currently its sole source of power and is routinely operated at greater than 90% of its capacity during periods of peak demand on the island. The Project’s consumption of 300 tons per day of MSW will reduce the stress on the Kibele landfill, the island’s only dedicated receptacle for waste.”
Astra and the government of Zanzibar previously signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on June 7, 2022, to develop the Project, and Astra has been approved for U.S. government advocacy to help advance the Project. Astra has also applied for a grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to fund the feasibility study and has chosen Arup US, Inc. as the sole source provider to conduct the study. Astra plans to begin Project engineering once the feasibility study is complete and definitive agreements have been reached with the Zanzibar government, which is expected later this year. Read More
A draft proposal from the European Commission – reportedly seen by Reuters on Tuesday – will allow sales of new cars with internal combustion engines that run only on climate neutral e-fuels. Just last month, the European Parliament formally approved a law to effectively ban the sale of any new car with a combustion engine – including petrol, diesel and hybrid models – in the European Union from 2035. However, in an attempt to resolve a spat with Germany over the EU’s phasing out of combustion engine cars, a new stipulation could allow these models to remain in showroom if they run purely on carbon-neutral fuels.The documents seen by Reuters suggest combustion cars allowed to remain on sale would need to have technology installed to prevent them from driving if other fuels were used. This would include a ‘fuelling inducement system’ to stop the car from starting if it was fuelled by non-carbon neutral petrol or diesel, it said. The proposal could offer a route for car manufacturers to keep selling combustion engine vehicles after 2035, the date when a planned EU law is set to ban the sale of new CO2-emitting cars. Read More
Shift Clean Energy (Shift) announces that it has partnered with Solar Earth Technologies Ltd. (Solar Earth) to power the Malahat Nations’ administrative operations on Vancouver Island by renewable solar energy. The project is a part of the Malahat Nations’ concrete plans to become a more sustainable community while moving toward energy sovereignty. Funded by the BC Indigenous Clean Energy Initiative, this project will be the first to utilize Shift’s leading-edge energy storage systems on land and Solar Earth’s unique form of solar power that transforms everyday infrastructure, such as parking lots and sidewalks, into a renewable energy source. This first project will transition one of Malahat Nation’s administration buildings, which acts as a joint emergency response, and office space for the Environment and Social Programs Departments, to run on renewable energy. Following the completion of the building, Shift will continue to work with the Malahat Nation to streamline its transition to being a more sustainable community, with the aim of developing a renewable energy microgrid. Solar Earth is a manufacturer of hardened solar power panels that transform sidewalks, parking lots and other elements of everyday infrastructure into a new source of solar energy. Read More
BMW Group is at the forefront of a key new manufacturing trend — going digital-first by using the virtual world to optimize layouts, robotics and logistics systems years before production really starts. The automaker announced today with NVIDIA at GTC that it’s expanding its use of the NVIDIA Omniverse platform for building and operating industrial metaverse applications across its production network around the world, including the planned electric vehicle plant in Debrecen, Hungary, that will only start operations in 2025. In his GTC keynote, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang shared a demo in which he was joined by BMW Group’s Milan Nedeljković, member of the board of management, to officially open the automaker’s first entirely virtual factory, powered by NVIDIA Omniverse.The keynote demo highlights a virtual planning session for BMW’s Debrecen EV plant. With Omniverse, the BMW team can aggregate data into massive, high-performance models, connect their domain-specific software tools and enable multi-user live collaboration across locations. All of this is possible from any location, on any device. Read More
Ford ‘to relaunch the classic Capri’: Iconic 1970s ‘working man’s Porsche’ still loved by celebrities to get eco makeover as it returns after 40 years costing £40,000 and doing 0-60 in 6.4 seconds.Production for the car actually started two months earlier at the Halewood plant in Liverpool to ensure every UK dealer would have at least one Capri on its forecourt by the time sales started.
Prices for the Capri started from £890 in 1969, which equates to around £14,000 today.
Overall, it was a hugely successful model for Ford selling a staggering 400,000 units in its first two years.
It also remained in production well into the eighties and across its 17-year production run Ford sold almost 1.9million units in total. Read More
Shipping can profitably reduce CO2 with VentoFoil wind support
Wind pioneers become Ambassadors
Making shipping more sustainable is high on the agenda of shipping companies, shippers and policymakers. The IMO is developing international regulations and standards with a view to achieving a 40% CO2 reduction by 2030. eConowind contributes to this with its VentoFoil concept: a flexible, vertical ‘wing’ that converts wind into extra thrust. With this, ships can already save up to 15 per cent on their fuel consumption on an annual basis. As the first VentoFoil usersare impressed, they now start to share their experiences with the market as official ambassadors.
With the start of the CO2 tax in 2024, it becomes important for ship owners to accelerate the green transformation. Especially now that industry and shipping are under the magnifying glass. International shipping accounts for 3 per cent of global CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, this mode of transport is still the most efficient per tonne-kilometre.
Frank Nieuwenhuis of eConowind says: “It is great to work in the energy transition and I am grateful for the efforts of these four innovators. With all the pooled knowledge and experience, we can make the wings more widely available. There is momentum and our order pipeline is well-stocked. Several shipping companies have closely followed the innovators and ordered their own VentoFoils. With the increased production capacity, we can now serve the market even better. We are continuing to develop as a scale-up and advanced discussions are ongoing with several investors.”
‘Wind assisted propulsion’ (WASP) on existing vessels not only reduces CO2 emissions, it also brings significant fuel and cost savings. With eConowind’s VentoFoils, shipowners can already profitably reduce CO2. Users see a positive contribution immediately after installation. The low-maintenance system can be installed within two days.
Wind pioneers become ambassadors Four Dutch shipowners have worked closely with eConowind and gained experience with the first 2 generations of VentiFoils. They will now pioneer the 3rd generation of ‘VentoFoils’ and become active Ambassadors of eConowind. This generation of wings delivers demonstrable savings enabling ships to meet tightened environmental requirements. Johan Boomsma of Boomsma Shipping says: “For us, energy efficiency is key, which is why we are always open to new developments. I think the three key factors – unit cost, fuel prices and European ETS legislation – are converging in such a way that wind-assisted propulsion will soon become one of the standard solutions. eConowind will succeed in making a significant contribution to reducing shipping emissions.” Read More
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced today that it intends to implement changes to its executive structure and senior professional/senior management employees effective April 1, 2023. Changes to its Board of Directors and Audit and Supervisory Board Members effective the date of its 119th Ordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting are also as described below. Read More
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price $ | change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | USD/bbl | $69.36 | Up |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $75.00 | Up |
| Bonny Light | USD/bbl | $74.14 | Up |
| Saharan Blend | USD/bbl | $74.03 | Up |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $2.27 | Up |
| OPEC basket 21/03/23 | USD/bbl | $73.96 | Up |
Toyota’s Carmaking Revolution Begins with the New Prius
On January 10, as the latest-model Prius went on sale in Japan, a monthly subscription service announced by KINTO stole the spotlight.
With the new KINTO Unlimited service, Prius U grade packages start at 16,610 yen per month (incl. tax)*¹. Amid soaring inflation, the monthly cost ends up 10% cheaper than standard pricing Read More
The Ukrainian authorities and IMF staff have reached a staff-level agreement on a set of macroeconomic and financial policies that would be supported by a new 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement. The EFF, with requested access of SDR 11.6 billion (about US$15.6 billion), or 577 percent of quota, aims to support the Ukrainian authorities anchor policies that sustain fiscal, external, price and financial stability, and support the ongoing gradual economic recovery, while promoting long-term growth in the context of post-war reconstruction and Ukraine’s path to EU accession.
The staff-level agreement reflects the IMF’s continued commitment to support Ukraine and is expected to help mobilize large-scale concessional financing from Ukraine’s international donors and partners. Read More
Saipem and Garbo, an Italian chemical company, have signed an agreement to support the industrialisation, development and international commercialisation on a global scale of a new technology for plastic recycling. The technology, named ChemPET, is Garbo’s proprietary depolymerisation technology which converts polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste, commonly known as PET, into new, high-quality PET and, therefore, of high value for the chemical and food industries.
The agreement also provides for Saipem and Garbo to collaborate on the construction on an industrial scale of the first chemical plastic recycling plant in Italy, located in Cerano in the province of Novara.
ChemPET is based on a chemical recycling technology that, unlike the mechanical process, enables the recycling of types of plastics for which no alternative solutions exist today (such as coloured plastics) and produces higher quality material that, in contrast to the mechanical process, does not lose its properties as it is recycled. ChemPET also allows for a simpler process and by-product management and does not involve the use of flammable or hazardous substances. It therefore represents a solution to the expected growth in demand for recycling of plastics and of PET in particular, also in light of increasingly stringent regulations. Today, PET is mainly used for the production of bottles and packaging. Read More
Baker Hughes Rig Count
U.S. +8 to 754 Canada -16 to 207
| Region | Period | Rig Count | Change from Prior |
| U.S.A | 17 March 2023 | 754 | +8 |
| Canada | 17 March 2023 | 207 | -16 |
| International | February 2023 | 915 | +14 |
GreenIT, the Italian renewable energy joint venture between Plenitude (Eni) and CDP Equity (CDP Group), and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) through its Flagship Funds have signed an agreement to develop three floating offshore wind projects in Latium and Sardinia. The plants will be located on average roughly 30 km off from the coast and have an overall capacity of approximately 2 GW.
The agreement involves the development of a project in Latium, off the coast of Civitavecchia, for a total capacity up to 540 MW and two other wind farms located off the coast of Olbia (Sardinia), with a power of around 500 MW and 1,000 MW. Combined the three projects will produce around 5 TWh/year with commercial operation expected between 2028-2031 once the authorization process and subsequent construction phase are completed.
The partnership’s offshore wind portfolio in Italy will thus reach almost 3 GW with a yearly production of around 7 TWh of renewable energy, enough to satisfy the electricity consumption of around 2,5 million households[1] and contributing to the decarbonization objectives of the 2030 National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan.
The three offshore projects will be using floating foundations, utilizing innovative technical solutions aimed at minimizing environmental and visual impact and will benefit from technological and logistic synergies with the other offshore wind initiatives managed within the same partnership.
The wind farms will be developed by a joint working team, in collaboration with Copenhagen Offshore Partners – the exclusive offshore wind development partner of CIP – and NiceTechnology and 7 Seas Wind Power, Italian companies with proven experience in the offshore plant sector, which have collaborated with GreenIT and CIP on the deployment of two other wind farms in Sicily and Sardinia. This new agreement represents an additional strategic step and a firm commitment to strengthening the floating offshore wind industry in Italy, providing a significant contribution towards a low carbon future as well as encouraging the development of the local supply chain. Read More
OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup | Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.
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